Innocent Devil’s Harem Ch. 114 (Patreon)

January 29, 2023

NOTE: The chapter after this one should get really interesting.

<< Chapter 113 | Ch 1 (Book 1) | Ch 16 (Book 2) | Ch 31 (Book 3) | Ch 46 (Book 4) | Ch 61 (Book 5) | Ch 76 (Book 6) | Ch 91 (Book 7) | Ch 106 (Book 8)

- CHAPTER 114: Agreement -

After my most recent recollection of past events, I was…

A little messed up, to say the least.

Between the panic, the pain, the torment in my heart, and the sense of loss in my soul, the recollection of how I ‘saved’ Gwen’s life was enough to make it sound like I was hyperventilating as I sobbed.

Because I could remember how I had felt in that nightmare of a moment.

As if it had just happened, I could remember those feelings.

Raw, and recent, and horribly potent.

Like a knife stabbing my heart.

Like a vise crushing my chest.

I’d never felt such pain, agony, and guilt in my entire life, and I whined like I was dying. Cried like my entire world was falling apart.

Because it had.

Once before.

After a thousand years of mostly emptiness, all my feelings heavily muted, a horrible emotion finally broke through. One that hit me like a freight train.

Hit me like a hurricane making landfall.

Just as powerful as my Wrath had once been, so had become my Grief.

And it was like I was experiencing this horror all over again, for the very first time.

My only comfort was the intensity of Gwen’s thoughts, so powerful, that they overshadowed everyone else, as she drew near like she was physically there with me in the car, similar to what she’d done when she helped me cast that healing spell to fix Delilah.

So powerful, that she became an encompassing presence wrapped all around me that embraced me a thousand times more tightly than Serenity and Natalie’s physical arms.

Both of my women in the car were holding me.

Awkwardly, in the cramped space, Natalie only halfway in the front seat with me. And yet, all I could feel was Gwen as she said one thing with her entire being…

‘Master, you are everything to me. More than anything else in this world, I love you.’

The same words I’d left her with, to avoid her suffering with terror and pain for an eternity. To allow her to experience a living nightmare with relief and hope instead, even if it was still unimaginably horrible all the same.

My only reprieve, if there was any to be had, was the knowledge that she recalled little of that suffering.

I didn’t want to be weak though, despite the fact that everyone reassured me that this wasn’t me being weak. So after losing myself for a few intense minutes, I tried my best to get a hold of myself. To climb out of the pit of grief, guilt, and despair I’d found myself in, and to try to focus again on the here and now.

So I could function.

So I could do what needed to be done.

It truly did help that Gwen reassured me that she did wake up with a sense of hope, though she hadn’t been able to exactly recall the reason why she felt that way. And while she’d been shocked to learn from Miriam that so much time had passed, she didn’t feel like she’d been imprisoned for that long.

If anything, it was more like she endured a really long sleep, one in which she didn’t dream and simply woke up feeling relieved and hopeful for the future. Barely even recalled the pain of being mummified while still alive.

Still, it was…hard.

The memory was beyond horrible. To the point that I almost wished I could forget it again.

I didn’t want to remember this pain.

Serenity was reluctant to let me go. Reluctant to start driving again.

But I needed them to focus on the ‘normal,’ in order to help stabilize myself. Focusing on the here and now, not what I’d endured so long ago. Because this was something that happened basically two millennia ago.

So, they did.

Because it was what I needed right now.

Natalie had questions -- really everyone did, since they didn’t know about the previous memories -- but I kept the details limited, just enough so they’d understand what happened last night, while most of them were asleep. Including about my powerful weapon.

Natalie decided to lean forward in her seat to partially wrap her arms around my chest, not quite a full embrace with the seat in the way, just to remind me that she was here for me. But otherwise, she tried to respect my wishes to just focus on the here and now.

On the way to Joseph’s house, Serenity made a stop at a fast food drive-thru for breakfast, and the two of them scarfed their meals down in the remaining time of our trip. I ate more slowly, initially more focused on handing Serenity her food as she ate, since she was driving, but was thankful to have the opportunity to give my attention to anything else.

Anything, other than that horrible memory.

I then collected all the trash just as we were getting fairly close to Joseph’s place, with us finding ourselves on a backroad surrounded by trees north of the city where we lived.

I had to focus.

Focus on anything else.

I didn’t want to show up in such a pitiful and broken state.

I didn’t want to show up looking like I’d been crying.

Dammit.

The previous day, I’d noticed that Joseph drove a really nice car, but I didn’t realize he might truly be wealthy until we pulled onto his ‘road,’ which I thought was truly just a road at first, only to realize we were actually on his driveway, leading up to the gates of his mansion.

Damn, his place looked like it could even be bigger than Miriam’s house.

And it was much more modern looking.

Certainly, Miriam’s mansion looked well-maintained and fancy, but his house was very white on the outside, a sharp contrast to the lush green lawns, bright blue sky above, and black asphalt paving that ran around a large fountain and up to the white-painted concrete steps.

There were trees on the edges of the property, marked by modern black metal fencing, but the lawn surrounding the behemoth structure was so large that it felt like the place was sitting right out in the open, compared to the more secluded feeling I got at Miriam’s house.

But damn.

I had no idea what he did for a living, or how he’d gotten so well off at such a young age, since he was only thirty-seven, but he was clearly very successful in regular life. A sharp contrast to how much he was bullied and ‘put in his place’ whenever around family. A part of me did wonder if this was all from insurance money, but honestly I was fairly certain he wouldn’t have been able to hide his existence from me if there had been an insurance payout for him.

Even if my adoptive parents somehow had a different policy with a different company, with only him listed as the beneficiary on that one, it would have come up in court, since they’d looked into everything when determining how they wanted to handle Serenity being the conservator to my trust fund. Looked at everything related to my adoptive parents. Even looked into extended relatives who I might be able to live with, and yet my ‘technical nephew’ basically didn’t exist to them.

Otherwise, I would have ended up in his care, and yet I hadn’t.

Which meant, he couldn’t have gotten insurance money from their loss, and also meant all of this was from his own endeavors.

Tormented by his family, and yet clearly an elite individual in regular life.

When we pulled up, an older man with white hair wearing a powder blue suit greeted us, asking right away if we wanted him to park our car around back in the garage, to keep it out of the sun.

We declined, but even just the fact that my brother had private valet for guests, or more than likely just a butler who also took care of that kind of thing, was a little surprising.

Granted, I was well aware it was possible I might have been greeted with the same hospitality at Miriam’s place had I arrived under different circumstances. Whereas instead, she’d initially sent everyone home when it was determined that I would be coming over to meet her.

No doubt because she cared for all people, and didn’t want to put any of them in harm’s way.

Once we’d parked off to the side, with Serenity carrying the cooler of blood bags on ice with ease, the butler proceeded to lead us up the white steps to the front entrance, and into the foyer area, prompting me to realize that the mansion was actually only one story tall, with just really high ceilings.

Still, even with only one level, assuming they didn’t have an elaborate basement, the place was huge.

In passing, I did notice that the older gentlemen smelled slightly of sulfur, the exact same scent I was used to smelling from Serenity’s gun. A scent that clung to both the bullets and the gun itself, since firing it left behind microscopic deposits that she could never fully clean off, even with the oil and brush she used, since it kind of got everywhere.

Something that Serenity’s sensitive nose noticed too, both of us agreeing that he was probably armed.

Not at all something to be usually concerned about, since I occasionally caught a whiff of that smell from random people walking around in the mall, likely ‘carrying’ somewhere underneath their clothing. And if this guy doubled as a bodyguard, who was responsible for the security of the place, then it further reinforced that he wasn’t necessarily carrying specifically because of us.

Joseph was just coming down a hallway as we walked in, only to literally stop in his tracks for half a second, seeming to focus on Natalie, before continuing on.

Given that the behavior confused us all, he spoke up apologetically, seeing that his reaction needed to be addressed.

“Welcome!” he said warmly, only to grimace. “And sorry, obviously I’ve met Serenity before, so I was kind of prepared for how pretty she was, but I wasn’t expecting the other person you brought to be so…umm…you know,” he added lamely, clearly not wanting to give me the wrong impression.

I shrugged. “Yeah, she could definitely be a model,” I agreed, focusing on the blue-haired vixen who was frowning next to me.

From our bond, I knew she actually appreciated the compliment, but didn’t want him to know she appreciated it, hence the frown.

“Err, right, so this is Gerald here,” he continued, gesturing to the butler. “He’s a trusted friend who I’ve employed for I think about twelve years now.”

The man nodded, his hands clasped in front of him, his voice deep. “Almost thirteen years, sir,” he agreed simply.

“Right,” Joseph replied, focusing on me. “And I was hoping you don’t mind if he remains with us throughout this process. He knows about everything supernatural, and as I mentioned on the phone last night, Sarah and Emily are both really nervous. This was kind of their condition, to even consider being around for this. Not that they are ungrateful!” he quickly continued when I frowned. “They’re just a bit, you know, skeptical.”

My frown only deepened.

Glancing at Serenity as she held the cooler of blood bags, I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. Which was, ‘How much did this guy know exactly?’ Both about the supernatural, as well as our reason for even being here.

It was like Joseph read our minds.

“Oh, and I haven’t actually told Gerald why you’re here. We can still do everything in private. He’s very respectful of our privacy.”

“Absolutely,” the man agreed, staring straight ahead now, as if he wasn’t paying attention.

Joseph continued. “Is…Is that okay?”

I finally sighed heavily. “Honestly? I wish you would have mentioned this on the phone last night,” I said seriously. “Trust is a big deal to me. Like, a really big deal. Break my trust even just once, and there’s a good chance I won’t trust you again.” I sighed again when he sincerely looked almost terrified by my words. “Look, as long as this stays private, I don’t really care if this guy is here, but it’s a false comfort. If I had any bad intentions, he’d be dead before he could even think about reaching for his gun. And even if he shot me in the head, I’d be just fine.”

Joseph’s eyes widened at that, only for him to abruptly shake his hands back and forth. “No, no, no. He’s responsible for security too. He always carries a gun on him.”

“And I believe you,” I replied. “But I think we both know why ‘Sarah and Emily’ want him around. And look, I get that too. They don’t know me, and what I’m offering sounds impossible. But remember that one of my conditions was keeping this a secret, so if you’re going to bring a third-party into this, even if he’s a trusted friend, then you need to tell me in advance.” My tone grew more firm. “Not when I show up on your doorstep. Honestly, if you had just asked me last night over the phone, and explained your reasoning, I probably would have been okay with it.”

He clasped his hands together and literally bowed his head, like he was praying. “And for that, I am very sorry. I just feel stuck between a rock and hard place, because I want this for all my wives, but I’m also afraid of you changing your mind.”

I scoffed. “Look, I’m going to do it, okay? But just know that this is the kind of thing that might have made me turn right around and leave. I only live twenty minutes away, so it’s not like it would be a big headache for me to go back home.”

Of course, I’d be going to Miriam’s place instead, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I understand, I’m very sorry. It won’t happen again.”

I frowned at that, before sighing again. “Okay, well this is going to be an all-day thing, so show me where you want to do this.”

He nodded, finally raising his head and turning around to usher us to follow after him.

Of course, the butler Gerald came too, walking nearly ten feet behind.

At first, I thought this might be the same setup as Miriam’s mansion, with my brother making a right down a hall, and there being an entrance to a spacious living room right away, but then he continued on past a few closed doors to a dining hall on the opposite side of the house as what I was expecting.

Serenity had her own theories as to the setup.

‘Since this is one story, probably all the bedrooms and more private areas are on the other side of the house.’

I simply acknowledged that thought inside my head, seeing that he had a breakfast spread in the dining room, like what I might expect at a hotel, including bagels, pastries, donuts, as well as a couple of metal containers with warm eggs and sausage.

Rachel was also sitting at the table, with a plate in front of her, the food barely touched as she simply sat there, her overall body seeming a little tense. She was wearing jean shorts and a pink camisole top that showed off her belly a little, definitely looking like she was dressed comfortably in her own house. She also wasn’t wearing sunglasses to hide the scarring on her closed eyes.

I knew she was anxious, because her heart was racing, picking up speed a little when she heard us, even though she didn’t angle her head in our direction.

Joseph looked like he was about to speak up, but then stopped when Natalie decided to walk right up to the blind brunette to introduce herself.

“Hey,” she said cheerfully in her very rich voice, like a ‘Rock band chick’ who had just walked off stage to greet a fan, causing Rachel to actually jump in her seat from her volume. “I’m Natalie. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, umm, hi,” Rachel replied, turning her whole body to face her. “Nice to meet you too,” she added, holding out her hand tentatively.

Natalie grabbed it without hesitation, shaking briefly and then holding onto it. “I bet you’re a little nervous, huh?”

She grimaced at that. “Umm, yeah…” she admitted.

“That’s understandable. But don’t worry. Nothing is going to happen until you’re ready, okay? Besides I think we have some stuff to talk about anyway. The ‘news’ and all.”

“Oh.” Rachel straightened a little more. “Right. And thanks.”

“Sure thing,” Natalie replied, finally letting go of her hand, and turning to face Joseph. “Speaking of which, we aren’t talking in here, are we? Because our conversation does need to be private, and our words would echo in here. And where exactly is everyone else?”

Joseph glanced at me hesitantly, almost as if he was searching for permission to even talk to her, before answering her question. “Umm, well, I thought all of you might be hungry, so I figured you could eat first, if you want.”

“Nah,” Natalie retorted. “We ate on the way here. Looks good though, so if you leave stuff out, I might sneak in here to raid all the goodies. I eat a lot.”

Rachel laughed at that, visible tension leaving her shoulders. “You really just say, and do, what you want, don’t you?”

Natalie’s tone was more serious, lowering her voice. “Thanks to my man, I do,” she replied quietly, even though her voice carried in the open space just fine. “I was a slave before I met him. Just a fuck toy and a punching bag to a group of guys who loved to beat the shit out of me.”

Rachel looked like she was going to be sick. “I’m…I’m so sorry.”

Natalie sighed. “No, actually I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dropped that on you like that. Point is, I owe my man both my life and freedom, and for better or worse, he doesn’t try to stop me running my mouth too much.”

Rachel laughed at that, moving her head in our general direction, a big grin on her face. “Clearly.”

“So!” Natalie continued. “Where are all the other, umm…wives…” She lowered her voice. “Probably shouldn’t call them bitches, should I? Since they might not like that.”

Rachel chuckled again. “Yeah, it might rub a couple of them the wrong way,” she agreed, only to take a deep breath. “Umm, well two of my friends want to wait until after you’re done with me to even meet you guys. The other two are waiting in the lounging room just off the main living room.”

“I’m assuming that’s Sarah and Emily who don’t want to meet us yet,” she replied. “Although, I honestly can’t blame them for being cautious. But hopefully they’ll relax after you wake up.”

“Umm, right,” Rachel agreed, beginning to stand up. “And, uh, would it be too much trouble to hold onto your shoulder?”

Joseph immediately spoke. “Oh Rachel, I can do that for you.”

Natalie held up her hand. “Relax dude, it’s not a big deal,” she said, actually grabbing Rachel’s hand to place on her shoulder. “Although, I have to ask, how do you normally get around? Do you have to wait on someone to help you?”

Rachel grimaced at that. “I do have one of those white canes, but kind of don’t like other people seeing it.”

“Makes sense,” Natalie agreed. “I’m sure it’s rough not being able to see. Not that I’ve ever experienced it,” she clarified. “But I probably wouldn’t want people seeing my cane either, even if it meant I was stuck wherever someone put me.”

Rachel simply nodded, even as Natalie twisted a little so that they were ready to walk.

The blue-haired vixen then focused on Joseph expectantly, who was just kind of staring at them. “Well dude, you’re the host, so get to hosting, and show us where to go.”

I tried not to laugh, with Rachel also looking like she was attempting to hold back a chuckle, her other hand flying up to her mouth to conceal her smile.

Joseph looked flustered. “Oh, umm, of course. Sorry, just this way. And Gerald, if you would,” he added.

“Of course, sir,” he agreed, turning around to walk back out of the room, looking like he was heading toward the other side of the house, where I assumed Sarah and Emily must be waiting. And where they would probably stay for at least the first few hours, until Rachel woke up.

I decided to speak up as we walked down the hall and then made a left into the main living room. Unsurprisingly, the space was well lit by four massive front facing windows, the fancy drapes pulled back, there being plenty of seating but no TV in sight, the space appearing to be a more traditional sitting room for entertaining guests.

I cleared my throat. “So, just wanting to make sure, but there’s no other surprises I need to be worried about, right? No hidden cameras or anything?”

Joseph looked surprised at that. “Oh. No, not in the house. We do have security cameras though. Do you want me to delete that? I mean, it gets automatically deleted on a rolling three weeks, unless we save a video clip, but I can delete anything sooner than that.”

“Well, yeah.” I replied seriously. “As I said, I’ve got some news to share with you, and I don’t want you guys to get involved. Wouldn’t be a great idea to have video sitting around, evidence that puts me at your house this morning. Otherwise, someone might think you’re involved.”

He nodded slowly as he continued to lead us through the large living room, with a whopping four sectional sofas, coupled with four glass coffee tables, the four massive windows actually overlooking the fountain and asphalt driveway.

“Umm, right,” he agreed, pausing at a closed door. “And by someone, I’m assuming you mean our father, right?” He paused. “Oh, and Rachel said I might consider it bad news, but that she might think it was good news.”

I sighed. “Maybe let’s just sit down, and I’ll explain from the beginning.”

He nodded, opening the door to reveal a smaller living room with a widescreen TV mounted on the wall, this space only having two more standard three-seater couches in it, facing each other, along with two attractive brunettes sitting side-by-side, looking a little nervous themselves.

Unlike Rachel, who was a mature thirty-one-year-old that had similar proportions as Serenity, these other two women were almost complete opposites of each other. The one on the left, sitting closer to the door, very clearly looked to be closer to Joseph’s age, perhaps even in her forties, and likewise had similar proportions as Michelle, giving off a more maternal vibe.

Alternatively, the girl sitting further away was very skinny, being similar in body shape to Natalie, though looking to be about the same age as Rachel.

Both still extremely attractive, their dark brown eyes just as deep as Serenity’s chocolate eyes, but almost looking like a youthful mother and mature daughter together, sitting side-by-side. And while Joseph was thirty-seven, he looked more like he was in his late twenties or early thirties, thus making it feel like the woman on the left was a MILF in his life, despite him likely being of a similar age.

The two of them focused up at our group right away as we walked in, both glancing at me and then averting their gaze entirely, hesitantly focusing more intently on Serenity with her white cooler, followed by Natalie leading Rachel in.

“Umm,” Joseph began, gesturing to the two women. “This is Laura and Jamie.” He then gestured to me. “And this is my brother Kai, as well as Serenity and Natalie.”

The blue-haired vixen walked right up to them, Rachel still holding onto her shoulder. “Hi,” she said warmly, only to focus on Rachel. “Couch is right here if you want to sit.”

“Thank you,” she replied sincerely, reaching out, which immediately prompted the mature woman on the left to grab her hand. “Thanks Laura,” she added, as the brunette MILF helped her sit down.

For a second, I wondered how Rachel knew who was grabbing her hand, doubtful she could know by feeling the hand alone, but then wondered if the order in which they were introduced was intentional on Joseph’s part. He specifically introduced the woman closest first, and the one next to her second, automatically giving Rachel a general perception of where everyone was seated. Either that, or she just knew because she’d been in here earlier, prior to moving to the dining room.

Honestly, it was hard to say, but as I glanced at the two women, I almost began wondering if Joseph had a type, since they both had brown eyes and dark brown hair, exactly like Serenity. That was three brunettes so far.

But then again, I realized that might just be a coincidence.

For one, brown hair was much more common to begin with, and I knew that I wasn’t going around basing who I loved on what color their hair was. More than likely, their actual hair color probably didn’t matter too much to him.

Once Joseph closed the door -- making me realize the only entrance to this room was through the massive living room, definitely making it feel super private -- he then walked over to sit on the arm of the couch next to Rachel, who reached up without hesitation to hold onto his forearm.

“Please, feel free to have a seat,” he said simply, gesturing with his hand toward the other couch.

We did so, with me sitting on the edge closest to the door, while Serenity sat next to me and Natalie set next to her.

Rachel spoke up again. “Oh, and Serenity, you’re here too, right? Sorry I didn’t say hi.”

“That’s alright,” my brunette fiancé said simply, only to focus on me, moving the conversation right along. “So then, do we want to tell them the news first, or talk about how they’ll become like us?”

My brow furrowed as I considered that, realizing that if they were even going to believe my whole story, then they should probably have an idea of what to expect when I injected them with my blood.

Sighing, I focused on Joseph, with Rachel still holding onto his arm somewhat nervously. “I guess let me start by telling you how I do this, and what’s going to happen afterward.”

He simply nodded, even as Rachel tightened her grip.

“My blood is special. All I have to do, in order to change someone, is inject them with my blood.”

Rachel spoke up. “A-And, that won’t make me sick? Even if we have different blood types?”

“It won’t,” I confirmed. “So far, I’ve given my blood to eight people, including one werewolf and one vampire. Broke their curses, in the case of those two, and turned them into something more than what they were.”

Natalie chimed in. “For the record, I was the werewolf.”

All four of them immediately gawked at her, with Rachel speaking up. “W-Wait, just a minute ago when you said…” Her voice trailed off.

“That I was a slave, who was taken advantage of and abused?” Natalie scoffed. “Yeah, it was a fucking nightmare. The control that an alpha holds over those under him is far stronger than what an incubus can do. I didn’t get to make any decisions on my own, like being trapped in my own fucking body, and the transformation is so horrible, that words can’t even do it justice. I’d rather cut off all my fingers and toes, than go through that hell even one more time. Fuck, I’d rather just cut my fucking arms and legs off entirely, than go through it again.”

“Wait,” Joseph interjected, focused on me. “So is she the reason why…” His voice trailed off.

I was surprised he put it together so quickly.

“Why several hundred werewolves vanished about a week ago? Yeah, I basically stole Natalie from her other alpha and I guess that bastard might have been related to the Apex Werewolf in charge of them all, because they literally brought an army of monsters to our doorstep.”

“This happened where you live?” he asked in disbelief.

I shook my head. “No, it happened at a different location. But point is, they’re all dead, and Natalie is safe now.”

Rachel chimed in. “S-So you’re not a werewolf anymore?” she clarified.

Natalie laughed. “Oh, I’m something far scarier now,” she admitted. “But most importantly, I’m not cursed anymore. For the last year that I’ve been a werewolf, I uncontrollably transformed every full moon, and let me tell you, I’d rather burn alive for the rest of my life, than suffer that agonizing pain again. But now, I’m in control, and it doesn’t hurt when I do transform. Thanks to him being my alpha.”

“Alpha?” Joseph repeated in surprise, focusing on me. “You’re her alpha? Figuratively or literally?”

I smirked. “Ah see, that’s the thing. It is literal, and I have a similar bond with the vampire girl. Because, as far as I can tell, I have the traits of quite a few creatures. I’m part werewolf, part vampire, part incubus, and…a few other things.”

“Part vampire?” Rachel repeated in alarm. “So does that mean you drink blood?”

I sighed. “I’ve spent my entire life eating normal food,” I began, watching as Rachel visibly relaxed at that. “However, I’ve discovered that I do crave blood under certain circumstances.”

She tensed at that, as did the two women at her side.

Natalie scoffed. “Oh, it’s not a big deal. You’ll only want blood if you get hurt. Which means…” She added, placing her hand on the cooler on Serenity’s lap to pat it. “Rachel, you, in particular. Probably when you wake up, you’ll want to drink some, since your eyes are damaged and all.”

Joseph and his two other wives were wide-eyed as they stared at the cooler, with my brother speaking up.

“So…is that what’s in the container?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s blood bags. For drinking, if anyone has the urge. But it really is only when you get hurt,” I added reassuringly, directing my words more toward the blind woman. “More than likely, you won’t be able to see when you wake up, Rachel. But you will probably be very thirsty. You’ll want the blood. And after you drink it, your eyes will recover.”

“O-Okay,” she whispered simply, trembling slightly.

“Hey,” Natalie said seriously. “Nothing happens until you say it’s okay, alright?”

Rachel turned her head more in her direction, before taking a deep breath and nodding.

Natalie continued. “And if you decide you don’t want to, that’s fine.” She paused. “Although, going to be completely honest with you, it’s not a bad deal at all. Animal blood also works, but I think human blood is a bit more effective.”

Finally, Laura spoke up for the first time, sounding more youthful than I would have assumed, given her more mature appearance. “And she’ll be able to eat normal food still, right?”

I nodded, causing her to glance hesitantly at me. “Yeah, the vampire girl I mentioned can now eat regular food too, whereas she’d been forced to drink only blood for most of her life. She can also enjoy the sunlight, instead of it melting her flesh like it used to.”

Laura’s eyebrows raised at that. “That’s not a myth?”

Serenity decided to speak up. “The ‘bursting into flames’ part is a myth, but the sun does cause them severe harm. Like pouring acid on their skin.”

Laura simply nodded, falling silent.

“So basically,” I continued. “I’ll inject Rachel with my blood, and when she wakes up, she’ll likely want some blood to drink. We brought blood bags with us, and after she drinks some, her body will heal itself. Simple as that.”

The other girl, Jamie, finally spoke up, her voice matching her age. “Can we see this regeneration thing? Because that seems hard to believe.”

Without hesitation, Natalie immediately stood up and moved closer. “Sure thing,” she said casually.

Instantly, her entire hand abruptly transformed, growing larger as it turned pitch-black, her fingers growing two-inch long claws.

Both girls screamed, causing Rachel to jump from the sound.

“Chill out,” Natalie scoffed, as if they were overreacting. “You said you wanted to see. And I told you I was a werewolf with a broken curse. Jeez, it’s not like this is even that big of a deal.”

Honestly, even I was a little surprised that my blue-haired wife had developed such control over her transformation, but I could see in her mind that she’d actually been absentmindedly practicing, shifting just parts of her body here and there, since she wanted to be able to fight without tearing her clothing, if it became necessary.

To essentially only transform partway, as a humanoid hellhound with lethal claws, coupled with strong arms and legs, while otherwise remaining a fairly conservative size.

Rachel spoke up tentatively. “W-What do you look like?” she stammered.

“I look exactly how I normally look,” she scoffed again. “Your friends are freaking out over a few claws.”

“Your hand is black, and like twice as big!” Laura unexpectedly yelled.

“Yeah, well duh. I’m a werewolf. What do you think I look like when I’m transformed? Now, do you want to see or not?”

Both Laura and Jamie glanced at Joseph nervously, who was just staring with his mouth hanging open, only for him to nod hesitantly when he remembered how to use his jaw again, the other two still leaning back into the couch like they were trying to get away.

Natalie proceeded to dig her claw into her other forearm, dragging it about an inch to draw a fairly large amount of bright red blood, only to pull it away and let her hand transform back to normal. She then used her thumb to smear the blood away from the cut, while feeling it actively heal, both girls sitting forward more in their seat to watch the wound seal up completely…

And then watching as the blood slowly begin disappearing too, as it got reabsorbed back into her skin.

“Oh my God,” Jamie whispered.

“Is this real?” Laura added in disbelief.

Natalie smirked. “Couldn’t be any more real. And no, I’m not going to cut myself again, in case you were thinking of asking. You saw what you needed to see.”

They both nodded hesitantly, leaning back again as Natalie turned around to sit down next to Serenity.

Joseph cleared his throat. “So, umm, what exactly are the limitations of this ability?” he wondered.

“Do you really want to know?” I asked seriously.

He nodded slowly, seeming surprised that it was a sincere question.

I took a deep breath, and then held up my right hand. “You see this?”

He focused on it with a confused look. “Umm, what am I supposed to see?”

“My hand.”

He was even more confused. “Umm, yeah. I can see it just fine. Looks the same as it was yesterday.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “Except that, when I officially left to come back home yesterday, I didn’t have a right hand. In fact, I didn’t even have a right arm. It was completely gone.”

Holy fuck, all four of them instantly froze solid.

Rachel was the first to speak. “Y-You’re serious,” she stammered.

Serenity sighed. “Yeah, he’s serious. Which kind of brings us to our news.”

Joseph spoke up. “You…You had a fight with someone. And got hurt…” he added.

I shook my head. “Not exactly. I did get into a fight with someone, but I didn’t lose my arm because of the person hurting me. No, I lost it because I used a spell that was a bit too strong for me, and required a self-sacrifice.”

“W-What spell?” he stammered.

I frowned. “A spell that left absolutely nothing left of my enemy. A spell that resulted in that person vanishing from this world entirely. His disappearance so absolute, that there’s not even a trace of him left. No blood, no signs of a fight, no nothing. He’s gone forever, and no one will ever know what happened to him. Aside from all of you, since I’ve just told you.”

Rachel was trembling and Joseph looked like he was going to be sick.

“W-Who?” he finally managed.

I sighed heavily. “Would you believe me if I told you that he didn’t leave me any choice? Maybe if I explained what happened, so you’d understand why I did what I did?”

He could only nod, not responding verbally, his eyes almost unfocused as if he knew exactly who it was, and I honestly wasn’t sure if this was good or bad news for him. Or possibly mixed news, just like how I’d felt about the situation.

I took a deep breath. “You know Ms. Monroe, right?”

“Of…Of course,” he managed.

“And you know of Delilah, right? The succubus?”

He simply nodded again.

“Well, as I’m sure you realized at the funeral, Ms. Monroe had decided, of her own volition, to leave our father in favor of me. Problem was, her car was actually bugged, which meant certain parties found out about her decision.” I took a deep breath, wondering if he was really going to pass out, with Rachel trembling violently now, to the point that Laura placed her hand on the blind woman’s thigh, as I continued. “So, I showed up at a certain location, and discovered Delilah in some kind of horrible collar, that would literally kill her by melting her head.” I paused when Joseph tensed at that, almost as if he’d heard of it before. “And that individual gave me one of two choices. Either I watch Delilah’s face melt off as she died an agonizing death, or else I give him what he wanted, and then he just let a bunch of guys fuck the shit out of her for the rest of her life. There was no option to negotiate her freedom. No option to protect her from horrible punishment. And so, I took a third option.”

Joseph visibly looked like he was going to puke. “Y-You…killed…our father…” he managed.

Rachel looked like she was spasming, she was trembling so hard.

I grimaced at that. “I didn’t just kill him,” I said quietly. “I did far more than that. You want to know what part of the spell was? It goes along the lines of ‘for ten-thousand years you will suffer in the blink of an eye.’ So no, I did far more than just kill him. Far more. And it cost my arm. Otherwise, if I’d only wanted to kill him, then I wouldn’t have lost a limb.” I sighed. “And for that, I am honestly very sorry, Joseph. I didn’t intend on hurting anyone yesterday, but he literally left me no choice. Because letting Delilah suffer for my own actions wasn’t an option for me.”

He took a shaky breath as he tried to process what I was telling him, reaching up to cover his eyes with one hand. “H-He’s…He’s really gone?”

“Yes.”

“A-And Delilah? She’s okay?”

“Honestly? She wasn’t okay, initially. But I used a healing spell on her, and I also gave her some of my blood. So she’s okay now. She’s even regrown her missing wing and tail. She’ll be staying with me from now on. She wants to,” I added.

He took a shaky breath.

Rachel finally reached out to hold Laura’s hand, also still gripping on to her husband’s arm. It was obvious that both Laura and Jamie understood that this was bittersweet news, but that it didn’t fully impact them, since they hadn’t been forced to endure anything unpleasant as a result of our father.

Finally, he spoke up again. “And Ms. Monroe?”

I sighed. “She plans on helping to deal with everything that happens once people realize he’s missing. Otherwise, she’s concerned about it causing suspicion if she disappears too, since she still intends on sticking with me.” I paused. “Which also means, as far as all of you are concerned, he’s just missing, and you’ll have to act like you’re finding out about it for the first time if someone brings it up. Or maybe you can just say that Ms. Monroe informed you.”

He simply nodded, his hand remaining over his eyes.

“For the record,” I continued softly. “I do actually feel guilty about what happened, even though I wouldn’t change what I did. If he had been willing to bargain with me or something, then I would have been willing to try to avoid a conflict. But…he didn’t give me that option.”

“No, he wouldn’t have,” Joseph agreed, still hiding his eyes. “He never would have bargained with you. That’s what he does. He doesn’t give anyone ‘choices.’ And usually, most others aren’t strong enough to decide on a third option.”

“I’m assuming you have mixed feelings about this.”

He took a deep breath, only to wipe his eyes and focus on me. “If this is really true, then for Rachel’s sake, I’m relieved. And sort of my sake too…” He took a deep breath. “But…”

“He’s still our father,” I said simply.

Joseph grimaced at that, only to nod and glance away. “More so than my actual father ever was. The one whose funeral we just attended.”

“Which I get,” I continued. “After losing my adoptive mom and dad five years ago -- or rather, after we lost our parents five years ago,” I clarified, knowing they’d raised him too. “Losing our biological father left me feeling empty inside, even though I didn’t have a choice, other than to do what I did.”

He nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered simply, causing all of us to fall silent for a full minute.

No one spoke, or even made a sound.

Rachel was still trembling some, her heart still racing.

I finally decided to continue. “So…if you’re still up for it, then let me give Rachel an injection of my blood. And then after everyone is immune to compulsion, I’ll leave, and you can delete that security footage, okay?”

He took a deep breath, and focused down at Rachel, before looking at me again.

“Okay,” he said simply. “Sounds…sounds like a plan.”

FEEDBACK: Next chapter should be really interesting. Thoughts?

Chapter 115 >>

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